Embrace the Fire (31 page)

“Aye.” Kinna gazed into the valley. In the distance, movement crept from the trees and paths at the base of the mountain as rows upon rows of Sebastian's men marched upon the wide road that led to the expansive city walls. Rising from behind the ridges, flying creatures took to the air, soaring high, darkening the sky, blotting out the pastel sunrise as it crept over the eastern mountains.

A shiver ran down Kinna's back. It had come: the final battle. The two countries and their rulers had been on the brink for years. At last, the sun was rising on the bloodshed and the hatred that would end it. Whoever won ClarenVale won the war. “We have three Dragons and our own skills to gain my brother back. It will be extremely dangerous and may risk all of our lives. But it seems our best bet for winning Cedric's life and his freedom. Are you with me?”

All of them nodded.

“Aye!” Ashleen exclaimed. “Tell us. Please.”

C
edric's Ember did not want
to return to the castle. Cedric wasn't around to communicate to him the necessity, and while he seemed to sense that Cedric was in the castle, he thrashed his tail and rolled on the ground, throwing his version of a reptilian temper tantrum. In the end, he allowed only Ashleen anywhere close to him.

The black-haired beauty moved her hands across the Dragon's scales, murmuring low words to him until the Ember at last relented, still grunting and huffing smoke, but accepting, for the moment, at least, Ashleen's attempts to calm him.

Kinna pulled Iolar aside as they prepared to leave. “I have need of your Clansmen, Iolar.”

“They will be ready when you need them.”

“Good.” Kinna motioned to the valley. “Sebastian has begun moving his forces against the front gates, but even he knows that he will not defeat Nicholas Erlane by a simple frontal attack. This attack must be for show.”

“Aye, Your Grace,” Iolar nodded, “though that's a considerable loss of life to risk for a show.”

“He's creating a distraction,” Kinna murmured, “from the one thing that Sebastian thinks can win this war. The Dragon-Master.”

A
s they approached the city
, the noises of battle deepened, growing stronger and more encompassing. They could hear the grunts of soldiers as they hefted their armor, the calls of the Dimn as they commanded their creatures, the songs of Pixies, the howls of Direwolves, the whispers of trees and Dryads. So many sounds and so much movement struck fear in Kinna's heart, but she refused to give in to it.

Erlane's archers lined the walls of ClarenVale and let regular waves of arrows flow into Sebastian's armies. A battering ram already thudded against the massive gates, and the Lismarian forces responded with oil poured over the battlements.

Dragons carried their Dimn into the skies. “That's a new one,” Ayden murmured, stopping next to Kinna. “Until you and Cedric rode your Dragons in last year's Tournament, no Dimn had yet succeeded in riding their Dragons. See?” he winked at her. “Change already.”

“Aye, a tiny one in the midst of a thousand other changes that have yet to be made.”

“In time, Kinna, in good time.” He turned back to Luasa.

Kinna glanced at Ashleen where she stood next to the Ember, who was resisting the forward momentum of the rest of the group.

“Ready?” Ashleen asked Kinna. She calmed the Dragon as she climbed onto his back, holding tightly to the flaming scales. She wiped away a trickle of sweat and nodded. Kinna slid her hand along Chennuh's smooth neck as she mounted him. Luasa lowered her head for Ayden, and the three Dragons joined the hundreds of creatures who inhabited the skies, camouflaging their true intentions as they hid within Sebastian's ranks.

Iolar and Lincoln waved from the ground as they took off at a run down the hill and farther into the trees. “Take care of her!” Lincoln shouted from the ground, and both Ashleen and Ayden waved in response.

Kinna grinned, guiding Chennuh toward the castle, cutting to the northern flanks, scanning the ground and the skies, keeping Chennuh to the outside of everything. On Chennuh's right, Luasa hovered, and farther behind, Ashleen followed with Ember.

“There!” Kinna yelled. Chennuh, sensing her lead, dove toward a large lake that spread on the northern side of the castle. From it, a waterway snaked south toward the castle and then disappeared underground—the castle-city's main water supply.

Around the lake, boulders piled high, creating rocky cliffs that arched over the lake's blue. The main part of Sebastian's force had gathered southwest of the lake. Kinna headed Chennuh directly for the lake's northernmost tip.

The Dragon landed on the cliffs, his talons scrabbling along the stony crevices, seeking footholds. Luasa and Ember found ledges just above Chennuh where they perched, their wings beating to maintain their balance.

Ashleen immediately slid off Ember and stood, shading her eyes as she stared at the castle and then at the western slopes. “Not long now,” she called to Kinna.

“Aye, but we need to find better shelter. If it's to be tonight, either Erlane's forces or Sebastian's will see us waiting long before darkness closes in, and we'll call attention to Iolar's Clansmen.”

“What about there?” Ashleen pointed.

Where the lake drained into a river—which then cut through a gorge, nearly out of sight, until it fell in a spraying waterfall near the castle—a series of deep crevices and overarching trees offered many possibilities for hiding and waiting.

“Excellent.” Kinna waved, and the Dragons headed for the gorge.

The roar of the water slammed into Kinna's ears like thunder, and when Chennuh entered the shadows of the gorge, darkness swallowed them. Kinna felt blind. She acquiesced to Chennuh's much keener sense of direction and smell, trusting him as he flew through the sharp turns and overhangs, some places so narrow that the tips of his wings nearly brushed the sides.

When he landed in the darkness of an overhang, he folded his mirrored tail around himself, and the other Dragons scrambled into the crevice with them, ducking their heads to avoid the low rock ceiling. Kinna struggled to release herself from the feeling of being closed in, leaning toward the rushing water that sprayed across rocks, above which a narrow fissure opened to the sky above.

“Are you all right?” Ayden asked, eyeing her with concern. “You're pale.”

“Aye. I'm fine.” Kinna took a deep, steadying breath and inhaled past her fear. She walked to the edge of the water and leaned out again, glancing up at the green, filtered light washing down into the gorge. “One of us should climb up there, keep an eye out for Iolar.”

“I will,” Ashleen volunteered. “If Erlane's soldiers happen upon me, I can make up a story about doing an errand for Lianna. Not that they would,” she added hastily.

“They won't trust you anymore after your escape last night with Ayden.”

“Aye, and they can still track me. Cedric promised, though—” She broke off. After a moment, she continued. “The castle is massive. Word may not have reached everyone of my escape yet amidst the chaos of the siege.” Ashleen shook her head. “But you're likely right. Don't worry. I know how to keep myself hidden.”

Kinna watched as Ashleen rubbed Ember's snout and then walked to the edge of the stream. She looked up and leaped into the air, catching a vine that Kinna hadn't seen until that very moment. Hand over hand, she pulled herself up, and Ashleen's feet disappeared through the ceiling. Kinna leaned out over the water. The dark-haired girl scrambled for footholds and handholds as she crept up the sides of the gorge toward the light far overhead.

“So,” Kinna turned toward Ayden, “now we wait.”

He said nothing, his silver eyes assessing her gravely with some hidden feeling that Kinna was too afraid to consider. She touched Chennuh's snout and was shocked when the Dragon leaped away from her hand, opening his mouth in a cavern-shaking roar.

“Chennuh!” Kinna gasped, but Luasa and Chennuh had already moved in front of her. Chennuh's tail swung around, thudding against her legs, and throwing her to the ground. Kinna landed on her back, and the breath left her lungs in a whoosh.

She tried to suck in the air, but she couldn't. She knew immediately that Chennuh smelled the sickening stench of Ogres, but as yet, he hadn't seen any and neither had she. She looked around wildly for Ayden but he was nowhere in sight. All Kinna could see were mirrored tails swishing, and all she could hear were the Dragons' roars. Then she heard a shout, and Ayden vaulted over Luasa's back. “Kinna!” he shouted, and then he was there, his hand reaching for hers, sweeping her up into his embrace. He pushed her around Chennuh, who roared furiously into the gorge and the spraying water.

“Where are they?” Kinna yelled. They'd found a ledge, and Ayden set her on it, following behind her. The ledge was narrow and slippery, and Kinna clung to the side of the rock wall as she made her way on it.

“Behind us,” Ayden said. “Many of them!”

Kinna snapped her head around, searching for the Ogres, but she could see nothing.

“They're crawling up the waterfall, and there are at least thirty. They're coming this way.”

“How?” Kinna asked. She couldn't imagine anyone climbing the waterfall, but even now, she could hear their distant grunts.

“Faster,” Ayden breathed, and fear rushed up Kinna's spine. Ogres had fire-resistant hides; it was nearly impossible to burn them, and Dragonfire, while the hottest there was, did little against an Ogre. Luasa and Chennuh and Ember would fight with their teeth, but if there were too many, the Dragons would be in trouble as well.

“Where are we going?” Kinna asked.

“Farther up; we have more room.”

“Why more room?” Kinna asked over her shoulder. “If we stay where it's narrow, they won't be able to come through as fast, and remember, your fire will do little against them, if anything at all.”

“I know, but I want a place where you can run and run fast if anything happens to me.”

“Ayden—”

“Just move!” His frustration echoed in his voice. Kinna reached the end of the ledge, nearly slipping on her last step onto the dry cavern floor. Ahead, sunlight poured into the cavern where the roof ended, and Kinna headed toward it. She didn't know what lay beyond, but suddenly, she understood Nicholas Erlane's strategy against Sebastian's attack. This was not the only underground waterway; if the waterways disappeared into the castle from this lake, they also exited somewhere. Nicholas Erlane would be pouring his other forces through the waterways into the outdoor world, waiting, waiting until he surrounded Sebastian's forces before closing in. Did Sebastian know his own frontal attack was being used against him as Erlane also made use of the diversion?

Kinna saw the brilliance and the horror of the plan all at the same time. She didn't want to see it end that way, but neither did she want to see Sebastian use his armies to crush the people of ClarenVale and overtake the rest of of Lismaria.

What a waste. Each person that filled the ranks of both armies had loved ones, responsibilities, a life. Many were sacrificing that for a diversion. Something had to be done.

She ran toward the opening. She heard a grunt, and turned.

Ayden sprawled behind her, a bolt protruding from his leg.

“Ayden!”

He clutched his leg, his face contorted with pain. “Go, Kinna, go!” he yelled, but Kinna couldn't. Down the tunnel of the gorge, she could hear the shouts of the Ogres as they splashed up through the water. The nearest one held a crossbow, and he took aim at her.

Kinna stood in terrified indecision, unsure whether to run or to dive. She did the latter, throwing herself down over Ayden, covering his body with as much of hers as she could. The bolt flew over her head and rebounded off the stone wall, skittering across the ground and rolling back into the rushing water.

The Ogre stopped to reload. His fellows crowded behind him, those who had made it past Chennuh, Luasa, and Ember. What if the Dragons were unable to stop the onslaught of Ogres as they piled up the stream?

The Ogre leveled his crossbow, taking aim. Ayden rolled over, nearly crushing Kinna beneath him as he released a firestorm that billowed down the stream, driving the Ogres back momentarily. The crossbow caught flame, the bolt burning to ash in its owner's hands.

Ayden sat up, holding one hand around the shaft in his leg. Gritting his teeth, he yanked hard. The bolt came free. Blood spurted from the wound, and Ayden pressed his hands around it. Kinna watched with wide-eyed horror as blood leaked through his fingers.

After only seconds, the blood stopped coming. Ayden released his hands, and Kinna gaped at the skin; the hole in his breeches was there, the red stains on his hands and on his clothes and the rock below him, but the wound was gone, covered with a dry, powdery substance that he brushed away.

He leaped to his feet, glaring angrily at her. “Kinna, don't you ever,
ever
use your body to protect me again!” He pulled fire into his hands and hurled it at the Ogres.

“What was I supposed to do?” Kinna shouted back as she picked up loose stones along the walls and hurled them to help drive back the creatures. “Let you take another arrow?”

The fire was so thick and so furious, that even though it didn't burn the Ogres, they couldn't push forward through it.

“Yes!” Ayden yelled. “Better me than you! Don't you understand? I'm nobody. So let me protect you!”

A roar shook the cavern, interrupting Kinna's angry retort, and Kinna glimpsed a fiery body behind them, huge and scaly as it scrambled up the river after the Ogres. Teeth ripped Ogres apart, tearing their heads from their bodies.

And then Chennuh was there, and Luasa, and Ember as the three Dragons finished off the Ogres.

When it was all over, Kinna sank weakly onto the stone, her legs no longer supporting her. “You said there were only thirty. It felt like two hundred.”

The Ogres' dead bodies caught against the Dragons, who hadn't moved from the water yet.

Chennuh, keep the bodies from washing back downstream.

The Mirage snagged a body that threatened to float past him. Kinna hurried toward the water. “Ayden, we have to get the bodies into this cave here. If they wash back downstream, ClarenVale will know what happened—that we're here in their waterway, and they'll know that their method of attack has been discovered. We can't let that happen, not if our plan is going to work.”